Hiccup Gets Blindsided
by Wolfblade88
Summary: What if Hiccup was the one to check on the dragons during the events of Blindsided. A "What if" story about Hiccup going blind after a a bolt of lightning strikes and how Astrid comforts him in his time of need.


Rain pelted the roof as thunder shook the building. Occasionally, lightning would illuminate the cracks between the hatches and the outside. We all sat around the clubhouse fireplace, waiting for Hiccup to return from the stables.

"Did you drop off the food and water at the stables?" I asked Hiccup as he entered the clubhouse from the pouring rain.

"Yep. Troughs are all full."

There was a grunt as Fishlegs closed the last hatch. "Well, the dragons are all cozy in their pens."

"Did you lock the main doors?"

"Astrid, Astrid." He chuckled. "Of course. Who would forget something like that?" A moment of indecision crossed his face. "I mean, I guess it's possible. But I would never…But then again, there's a first time fore everything."

I sighed in frustration. "I'll go check."

"No, you won't." quipped Hiccup, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm already soaked from the rain, so I'll just head out and check. It'll take 2 minutes tops."

I started to protest, but Hiccup had already left, shutting the door behind him. I turned to face the fire, absentmindedly listening to the storm outside. Suddenly, a loud crash shook the whole island as a blinding light illuminated even the tiniest of cracks in the clubhouse.

Something was wrong.

"Hiccup!" I called out into pouring rain, making a mad dash for the dragon pens. A gasp escaped my throat when I reached the edge of the walkway and saw the roaring flames engulfing the building. "Hiccup, where are you!" I cried, preying he wasn't still inside.

Suddenly, I saw him. Laying on his back in the middle of the burning building, was the chief's son. Forgetting all self-preservation, I charged into the building, jumping over a few support beams that had fallen to the ground. "Hiccup, can you hear me?"

I breathed a sigh or relief when I herd a faint groan escape his lips as I draped his sluggish body over my shoulder. Just as we stumbled out into the pouring rain, the ceiling caved in right where Hiccup was laying moments ago. "Toothless!" I cried into the night.

The familiar screech of a night fury's flight cut through the thunder and rain as a black shape landed next to me with a thud. "Toothless, Hiccup is hurt and I need you to get him to the club house ASAP!"

A sad croon escaped the dragon's mouth as I slid Hiccup off of my shoulder and into the saddle before flying back to the clubhouse. "Guys, Hiccup's hurt!" I shouted, bursting through the door and clearing a spot for him on the dining table.

Immediately, Fishlegs moved towards Toothless and helped me position the unconscious rider onto the table. "Astrid, what happened to him?" he gasped.

In the flame lit room, I finally had a chance to properly look him over. His hair was all mated from the wind and rain. His face was completely covered in soot and ash. Where it not for his steady breathing, I would have thought him dead for weeks. "I-I don't know. I ran to the stables after the crash and I found him laying there."

"Speaking of dragons, you wouldn't happen to have seen one Barf and Belch, would you?" interrupted Tuffnut.

"What about my Hookfang?" jumped in Snotlout.

"Guys, I'm sure they just got scared by the storm and flew off. I'm sure they're ok. Right now I'm just worried about Hiccup." I sighed, looking at his face, hoping for movement.

"Why him, Toothless is right there, everything's peachy for him." wined Snotlout.

If I had my axe on me, I would have thrown it at him, instead, I settled for my best death glare. "Just an observation." He whimpered, throwing his hands up defensively.

Before I could chew him out for his stupidity, a groan from the table snagged my attention. "Astrid?" croaked Hiccup.

I put my hand to his back as he tried to sit up. "Easy Hiccup, how do you feel?"

Confused eyes scanned the room, trying to focus on something. "Astrid where are you? I can't see a thing in here. Where's Toothless?"

My breath got caught in my throat as I tried to think of what to say next.

"Astrid, where are you, I can't see you, please say something" Hiccup reached his hands out blindly in an attempt to find his footing. The rest of the riders looked at each other in silent horror as our leader stumbled around the clubhouse, nearly tripping on a wooden stool.

"Hey guys, can Hiccup and I talk… alone please."? I asked, relieved that they quickly left the area without much hassle.

I grabbed his hand and guided him until we had our backs to the fire, sitting in silence as the flames dried us off from the outside weather.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked after an eternity of silence.

"Yes Hiccup?"

"I'm really blind, aren't I?"

"It'll be ok, when the storm is over, we can go back to Berk and see Gothi. Bucket went blind before and she cured that, I'm sure she can do the same for you." I took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"And now he wears a bucket on his head. I have high hopes for my future." He sighed, letting go of my hand burying his face in his own. My heart ached at seeing him look so defeated.

"Hiccup, don't move. I'll be right back." I stood from my seat and made my way over to the rain barrel and filled a spare bucket with water. Grabbing a clean rag on the way back, I sat down next to him and dunked the rag in the bucket. "I don't now how to make you feel better right now, but I can at least clean the ash off of your face.

Hiccup flinched slightly when the cold rag first touched his cheek, but relaxed as I used my other hand to cup his face. It wasn't often that I got to actually admire his face this close, so I decided to take full advantage of the situation. Hiccup Haddock had definitely grown over the years. What little baby fat he had growing up had disappeared from his face, leaving only a strong chin and well defined cheekbones. I felt hints of stubble in my hand caressing his cheek. My thumb absentmindedly traced the scar on his chin as I moved to clean his forehead. Ever since puberty hit, I've noticed a few more girls turn their head when Hiccup walked past. It was a little irritating at first, but I could never really blame them. Hiccup Haddock got hot and I will die before I ever admitted that to his face.

I paused for a moment when I looked into his eyes. No mater what anyone said, I will always believe that Hiccup's best feature was his eyes. Always so deep and vibrant. You could always tell how Hiccup felt by the look in his eyes. They would shine when he was excited, the pupils would shrink if he was focused, making his eyes look so green, you could get lost in them. My heart broke at how dull and emotionless his eyes were now.

"What's wrong?" asked Hiccup, breaking me out of my daydream. Blood rushed to my face for zoning out. A sense of relief fell over me before an overwhelming sadness at the fact that he couldn't even see my blush.

"How did you get this scare?" I blurted out, hating myself for jumping on the first question that came to mind.

A look of confusion crossed his features. "Um… Why do you ask?"

"Ruff and I have a bet going on." I lied. "She thinks you got it from Snotlout and I said it was from one of your inventions."

A pang of sadness crossed his features before clearing his throat. "Neither… My dad told me that I got this scare the day that my mother died."

If my heart was broken before, then it was now shattered. "Oh my gods, Hiccup, I-"

"It's ok." He interrupted, placing his palm on the hand still holding his head. "You had no idea…" I continued wiping away the ash from his face, trying hard not to focus on his hand still holding mine. "Hey Astrid?"

My heartbeat increased as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze. "Y-yeah?"

"Thank you for doing this for me. You saved my life tonight. I'm lucky to have you in my life." Asgard be damned, if following this boy to the middle of nowhere doesn't get me killed, that smile will.

"We're a team Hiccup. I know you'd do the same for me in a heartbeat. Come on," I pulled him to a standing position. "Lets get you off to bed."

The walk back to Hiccup's hut was unpleasant to say the least. It's hard enough to walk on wet bridges in 30 mile an hour winds, let alone doing it blindly. By the time, Astrid and Hiccup had crossed the threshold, both Vikings where thoroughly soaked to the bone.

"Thank you again, Astrid. I couldn't have done this without you." Hiccup gave an embarrassed smile while rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's no problem, but you're on your own for going to the bathroom," I smirked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"I think I can manage from here, thank you very much." He quipped, sliding his hand against the wall. I watched in curiosity as Hiccup stumbled through his hut, until he managed to climb the ladder towards his bed.

"You good?" I asked from the ground, looking up.

"Yeah, I'm good Goodnight Astrid, I'll see yo-…. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He sighed, the groaning of his bed sounding as he rolled over, away from where Astrid was standing.

"Good night Hiccup. Have Toothless fetch me if you need anything." I called before somberly making my way back to my hut next door. My armor dropped to the floor as I pulled the straps loose, not bothering to pick them from the ground. "Dear Asier above, please give Hiccup back his sight." I prayed before drifting into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

"Ok. Thorston Blind Field Test, numero uno." Tuffnut said after Hiccup agreed to his stupid test. "Who is standing right in front of you?"

A pained sigh escaped Hiccups lips before he began rubbing his temples in frustration. "Tuff, I think you need to reevaluate your testing difficulty"

"He got it! He's fine everybody!" Tuffnut cried out in excitement. "Oh, thank Thor. Phew. That was a close one H."

"Guys, we can't waste time right now. We need to find our dragons. They're still out there somewhere and obviously scared or they would have come back." I complained, crossing my arms.

"Guys, she's got a point." Agreed Hiccup. "We need to round them up before the next storm hits. I'll ride on Toothless and search from above."

"Hiccup, you are in no condition to fly right now! You're staying here." I ordered, crossing my arms.

"Absolutely not, Toothless is the fastest way to search the island and I'm the only one who can fly him, so unless you leave someone here to guard me from sneaking out, I'm going out there. End of discussion." He retorted, climbing onto Toothless and locking his prosthetic into place.

Damn that man and his bouts of stubbornness. "Fine, but I'm going with you. We need at least one person in the air who can see where they're going."

"Toothless could have done it." Smirked Hiccup, giving Toothless a scratch under his chin. "Alright, I'll throw up a distress call if anything bad happens. Report back here in two hours whether you find something or not." The others gave a halfhearted salute before we took off into the sky.

The flight was silent as I scanned the tree line, searching for any of the wayward dragons. "Hiccup, why are you doing this?" I asked over the gentle wind.

"What do you mean? I'm helping to find our dragons." He said, eyes still starring into the distance.

"Hiccup, that's not what I mean… You're blind Hiccup. I don't know how well you'll be able to get the dragons ba-"

"Toothless and I are a team." He interrupted. "So long as I can keep Toothless in the air, he can call out anything he sees, and we can go from there." I noticed his posture grow ridged and the start of a scowl on his lips.

I could cut the tension with my axe as we continued to fly in silence. "Hiccup, I think we should land," I called after a while. "The tree line is too thick to see anything. Lets search on foot instead."

I herd a faint sigh of frustration escape his lips. "Toothless, see anywhere we can land?" Toothless let out a cry and gestured his head to a clearing ahead of us. "Alright, I'll bring us down."

"Hiccup speaks dragon. Of course Hiccup speaks dragon, why am I not surprised." I thought to myself as Hiccup moved his foot into the landing position. We dismounted off of Toothless and carried on foot, calling out Dragon names every couple yards. "Look, Hiccup I… I didn't mean to-"

"Its fine." He snapped. "Lets just focus on finding the dragons. Now I'm thinking that, as jittery as the dragons were, they probably wanted to get as far away from the storm as possible." Reasoned Hiccup. "So, if we make our way down towards the beach-"

"No." I interrupted. "I know my dragon, Hiccup. She's more worried about me than she is about herself. Which means she would be trying to find her way back to the Edge upstream."

"Ok and which way is upstream agai-ahh!" I turned just in time to see Hiccup fall to the ground, having tripped on a rock protruding from the ground.

"Oh Thor! Hiccup are you ok?" I dashed to help him up.

"I'm fine, I just tripped," he sighed, standing up to dust himself off. A red hughe taking hold of his face.

Suddenly, I herd some faint rustling in the bushes behind me. "Do you hear that?"

"I did."

"Something's coming at us." I began to walk towards the noise, listening for a clearer sound.

"Astrid, Where'd you go?!" yelled Hiccup.

"It's ok… It's Stormfly!" I herd the familiar screech of my beloved Nadder. Immediately I stretched my arms out for a hug and soon felt the scaly texture I had grown use to. "There's my girl! Oh, I knew you'd come." I squealed, scratching her under scales. Suddenly, she pulled away and gave out a warning screech. "What is it girl? What's wrong?"

Immediately, I herd the familiar clicking of joints. "Hiccup! Above you!" I cried, tackling him out of the way of an attack.

"Ok, Hiccup, there's a rock formation ten paces to your left." I yelled. "Hide behind it and you'll be safe."

"And leave you to fight it yourself? I'm going to help you!" yelled Hiccup, drawing Inferno.

"That damn Haddock pride." I sighed. "Toothless!"

I pointed to Hiccup, and immediately the giant lizard scooped Hiccup up and threw him towards the rock formation for safety.

"Stay out of this Hiccup!" I yelled, mounting Stormfly.

After a shooting spine shots and a couple of fire bolts, the Triplestrike decided to run of back into the forest. "The Triplestrike is gone Hiccup. Lets head back to the Edge and regroup."

"Right…" sighed Hiccup, moving to a standing position and mounting Toothless. "Lead the way" he gestured.

I mounted Stormfly and together we flew towards the edge. I looked behind me and saw the deep-set scowl on Hiccups face. "Hiccup, are you ok? You're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine." He snapped. I flinched at his callous response.

"Obviously not," I called. "Hiccup, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Are we close to the Edge yet?" I nodded in response before remembering that he needed verbal cues for the time being. We flew in awkward silence before landing at the main clubhouse. As soon as we landed, Hiccup wordlessly dismounted and turned towards his hut.

"Wait." I grabbed his hand. "Hiccup, can you please tell me what's wrong. You're obviously upset."

"It's nothing." He jerked his hand back, balling it into a fist. "Goodnight Astrid" I stood there in silence, watching him guide his hand on the walls until he made it back to his hut.

I sat around the clubhouse as the other riders trickled in with their dragons. "How'd it go guys?" I asked.

"Pretty well, the rock quarry on the far side of the island is short a couple boulders because of Meatlug, but after eating, she was fine." Sighed Tuff as he moved to hold chicken on his lap.

"Easy for you to say!" groaned Fishlegs. "Hookfang kept setting herself on fire on the ride back. It'll be a week before I can sit comfortably again!"

"Welcome to my world Fishface." Sighed Snotlout. "Hey where's Hiccup. Toothless finally eat him?"

"No," I sighed. "He went to his hut, I'm sure he'll be out later." The rest of the riders all hung out in the clubhouse until dinner. After dinner was finished with no sign of Hiccup, I decided to make my way to his hut. As I made my way to his hut, I herd a loud crash from within. Fearing the worst, I burst through the door. "Hiccup! I herd a noise. Are you ok?"

Scanning my surroundings, I saw Hiccups work table flipped to its side with all of its contents scattered to the floor with Hiccup standing in the middle of the room, fist flinched at his sides. "Go away Astrid. I want to be alone right now."

"No…" I all but whispered, walking towards him. "Hiccup, please tell me what's wrong." Gently, I cupped his face in my hand, slowly rubbing the scar on his chin as he let out a deep breath.

"It was nice while it lasted." He sighed

"What was?"

"All… this!" he angrily gestured to nothing.

"Now hold on, what do you mean by that?" I raised my brow.

"Let's face it Astrid. It's over. I can't see, I can't lead the Riders! I'm officially Hiccup the Useless again. Now with even less features!

I saw a deep frown etched his features before pulling him into a tight hug "Hiccup, you are not useless and you know it. Just because you can't see right now doesn't mean you're useless."

"I'm feeling pretty useless right now." He scoffed. "What am I gonna do Astrid? Lead the Riders blindly? Or should I go back to the forge and work with red hot metal all day? Sure I might get a burn or two, but who cares, so long as you get a scar out of it!" he yelled.

I had never seen him so frustrated and angry before. I forced my lips onto his, hoping to convey every emotion I felt for him, pity, sorrow, desire, and… love? The room fell silent as I looked at his stunned and confused face. "Please stop." I whispered into his ear. "It breaks my heart to hear you beat yourself up like this."

I felt him bury his face into my shoulder as a wet spot began to form on my shirt. "I just thought it was over." He whimpered. "I was no longer Hiccup the Useless. I lost a leg sure, b-but everyone started treating me like a person instead of a nuisance. It was nice. Now I'm just a burden, a one-legged, blind loser. "

"Hiccup, honey," I began dragging my fingers through his hair, hoping to calm him down. "It'll be fine. Tomorrow Gothi can fix your eyes and we can go for a nice flight. Sound good?"

"But… What if she can't? What if… What if I'm stuck like this Astrid?"

I cupped his cheek and positioned his head so that I could look him in the eyes. "Hiccup, we're a team. We've done everything together. The Red Death, the Berserkers, and The dragon trappers. We can handle this. I won't abandon you. Not then and definitely not now. There will always be an Astrid and Hiccup. Always."

We stood there; enjoying each others embrace for a while before Hiccup broke the silence. "Thank you Astrid, I'd gladly give up another limb and one of my senses if it meant I could still have you in my life. I couldn't do this without you."

I gave him a gently punch on the shoulder before pecking him on the cheek. "Same. Lets get to bed, we have a big day of flying tomorrow."

"R-right." stuttered a blushing Hiccup.

"Do you need help getting up to bed?" I asked, leaning in the doorway.

"I'll be ok." He called, climbing his ladder. "Goodnight Astrid, and thank you again… for everything" Hiccup smiled from above.

"Goodnight Hiccup," I smiled back, "And you're welcome." I called, walking outside towards my hut.

* * *

"Here goes nothing." Exhaled Hiccup as he unwrapped the bandages from his eyes.

"Well, did it work?" I asked, preying to Heimdall that he could see again.

"Well, unless you're not a pretty blond Viking with an axe, I think so." He grinned.

I excitedly pulled him into a tight hug, thanking every god in Asgard that Hiccup wasn't blind.

"Astrid!" he wheezed. "Can't breath!"

* * *

The flight back to the Edge was a long but happy one as we flew in comfortable silence. The sun was beginning to set by the time we touched down by the newly rebuilt dragon pen.

"You coming up?" I asked, watching as Hiccup gazed into the horizon.

"In a bit," he said, taking a seat at the edge of the deck. "You never realize how pretty a sunset can be until you lose sight for a couple days."

I moved to take a seat next to him, making sideways glances. "Calling me pretty without stumbling and watching sunsets by yourself. Are you sure you're ok?" I grinned.

"I'm Fine Astrid," he laughed, "You can stop worrying about me."

"I never stop worrying about you." I blushed at the admission.

"Same here." He smiled sheepishly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Last night, why did you kiss me?" he asked, still facing the horizon.

My face exploded in a cherry red at the boldness of his question. "Well I… You were being too hard on yourself and it… was an effective way to shut you up." Hiccup continued looking to the setting sun, not saying anything. "Can I ask you a question now?"

"Ask away."

"Why didn't you kiss me back?" This time it was Hiccup whose face turned into a tomato.

"That's because I was… You see I wasn't feeling well- not that you didn't make me fell better because you did but I-"

I couldn't stop my giggling from escaping. "Not so fun being put on the spot, is it?"

"No, I'm sorry." He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

We sat in silence for a moment longer before I spoke again. "Hiccup, how come you never kiss me?"

"You're kidding right. You're Astrid Hofferson. You threaten to break Snotlout's arm when he asks you to dance. If I was to kiss you without your consent, I'd be a rug in your hut."

"Hiccup, you know I'd never do that to you, now what's the real reason." I turned to look at him.

"Because…" he turned to face me. "The moment was never perfect."

"Perfect?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I always thought that if it ever happened… and yes, I've thought about it a lot. But, if it ever happened, it had to be perfect." He confessed.

I couldn't help but giggle at his shyness. He was always his cutest when he was on edge. I looked out towards the horizon one last time. "Well, this seems pretty perfect to me."

"Yeah? Yeah, I guess it does." He agreed.

We closed the distance as his lips pressed against mine. Our lips moved in sync with each other to an unheard rhythm. The only word for it was perfect. When we pulled apart, I rested my head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. We stayed there, silently enjoying each other's presence as the sun disappeared over the horizon.


End file.
